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User blog:Emptylord/Champion reworks/Sona the Maven of the Strings (Overwatch's Lúcio)
Long standing issues I've had with Sona * Her aura based mechanic currently doesn't lend itself to much gameplay - particularly those "high impact moments" (which are currently achieved by her ultimate). ** Her most recent rework removed her persistent auras, which for me contradicted her musical theme. She should be constantly playing! * Her Hymn of Valor and Power Chord use too much of Sona's power budget without contributing toward her unique aura-based spot in the roster. ** In fact, Hymn of Valar particularly encourages her to focus on a bland harass-based gameplay without much care for her auras. So I recently started playing Overwatch, Blizzard's new First Person Shooter that draws a lot of parallels with Team Fortress 2. Now I should probably start by saying that I am absolutely terrible at FPS games - I'm just not quick enough on the trigger or steady enough to play Snipers, not mechanically skilled enough for most of the offense characters, not inclined to play tanks (something that's true in League, too)... so I was definitely glad that there's a support class. After picking up Lúcio, I can't help but wonder where Sona went wrong! As with Sona, Lúcio's an aura-based, music-based character that can switch between a healing melody and a speed-boost depending on what he needs most and he spends his time darting between his allies trying to tag them with the best effect to enable them. Core Mechanic Now translating his success into League might not wholly be possible because of extreme pacing differences between Overwatch and League of Legends. Within a fast paced FPS, a healer that can readily and frequently heal-to-full their ally isn't a problem because the enemy will never not be able to get them low again. But in League, healers generally create a stale laning phase as enemies are often discouraged from spending their limited mana pools. Thus, the DamageAmp+Speed was the first version I created. In this version, Sona must constant choose whether to amplify her ally's damage or their movement speed. I felt these two options were distinct enough but neither being too much of a niche that one would invariably be the stronger (an issue Overwatch's Mercy has where her choices between Healing or Damage Amplifing is usually down to whether or not there's another healer, as otherwise the bonus damage is rarely worth it over keeping an ally alive). Now the original draft of this rework predated relaunch, and upon reflection of a successful - I felt it might be worthwhile exploring having a persistent healing song once more. After all, and do currently do the best job of capturing Sona's intended gameplay (especially late game when you see Sona's hasting her team into fights and darting around healing). Heal+Speed= . |description2 = Sona's Melody restores health every second to allied champions. |description3 = Sona's Melody grants bonus movement speed to allied champions. |leveling2 = |leveling3 = |cost = |costtype = No cost |cooldown = |range = 350 |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |flavor = |notes = }} For the next 3 seconds, the effects of Perseverance and Celerity is tripled. For each unique ally tagged by Crescendo's Melody, the duration is extended by seconds. |leveling = |description2 = The issue I have with this version of the kit is that Crescendo has no level 1 value, which is a pet peeve of mine. |cost = |costtype = mana |cooldown = |range = |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |flavor = |notes = }} |-| DamageAmp+Speed= Sona is surrounded by Melody that is interrupted only by . Her attacks release a beat that restores 5 + (5 level) health to allied champions within her Melody. Versus champions, Sona's attacks also grant for 6 seconds that stacks up to 6 times. |leveling = |cooldown = |range = 350 |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |flavor = |notes = }} . |description2 = Sona's Melody grants bonus magic damage on attacks and non-periodic abilities to allied champions. |description3 = Sona's Melody grants bonus movement speed to allied champions. |leveling2 = |leveling3 = |cost = |costtype = No cost |cooldown = |range = 350 |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |flavor = }} For the next 3 seconds, the effects of Tempo and Valor are doubled and the effect of Celerity is tripled. For each unique ally tagged by Crescendo's Melody, the duration is extended by seconds. |leveling = 10 + (10 level) 20% per stack |cost = |costtype = |cooldown = |range = |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |flavor = |notes = }} Sona grants a shield to surrounding allies, which lasts for up to 3 seconds. |leveling = 250 / 500 / 750 |cost = |costtype = |cooldown = |range = 700 |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |flavor = |notes = }} Sound Barrier is Lúcio's ultimate (or on steroids). Other Abilities The following abilities intend to similuate Lúcio's weapon thats primary mode of fire unleashes four projectiles per pull of the trigger (4 ammo per shot, 20 in a clip) and features a secondary fire that unleashes a concussive blast the knocks back all enemies in front of him (requires 4 ammo and has a cooldown). Sona attacks generate Tempo (on-hit) for 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. Sona's attacks are modified to fire a flurry of 1 (+1 per Tempo) notes, with each note dealing 5 + (5 level) bonus magic damage. The flurry otherwise deals standard damage and applies attack effects normally. For each stack, Sona's also gains , which is doubled during Crescendo. |leveling = |cooldown = |range = 350 |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |flavor = |notes = }} Sona unleashes a concussive wave, dealing magic damage and briefly all enemies hit. |leveling = |cost = |costtype = |cooldown = 8 |range = 700 |targeting = |affects = |damagetype = |notes = }} But this might not be the best approach to filling in the gaps in Sona's kit. Shrinking Sona's auras down to a single ability with only two choices, a la honestly feels like a good direction to go in, with a Amp Up! ability to temporarily boost the effects. Category:Blog posts